Ōpiki dairy farmer heading to NZYF national final
Zayn Jones has been named one of the country’s top young farmers on just his second attempt at a title.
The 31-year-old works as a dairy farm manager near the rural Manawatū settlement of Ōpiki.
He joined the New Zealand Young Farmers club two years ago and said he had been trying to put himself “out there” ever since, including as the chairperson of the Fitzherbert Young Farmers group. And in his only his second year of entering the FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest, Jones was named the season 56 Taranaki Manawatū winner on Saturday evening.
The win concluded two days of intense competition at this year’s Central Districts Field Days in Feilding.
He was now preparing to take on six other regional finalists heading to Hamilton in July for the grand final. “Winning a ticket to the grand final is really cool, and I’m looking forward to stepping out of my comfort zone even more,” Jones said.
In Feilding, he was one of 30 contestants, all of whom were left in the dark as to what challenges would be thrown their way.
The series of head-to-head challenges was “different” to what he had seen in the past, Jones said. “In the first head-to-head, we had to untwist a gate, which was a real brain-jerker and was something more practical you might come across on-farm.”
Sean Taylor, 30, from Marton Young Farmers was second, followed by 21-yearold Matt Lever from Massey Young Farmers in third place.
This year’s grand final was shaping up to be a good one, NZ Young Farmers chief executive Lynda Coppersmith said. Every year they “continue to be blown away by the calibre of our FMG Young Farmer of the Year contestants,” she said.